DisplayPort Version 1.4 Goes Nuts With Future-Proofing

There is future-proofing, and then there is VESA’s (Video Electronics Standards Association) plan for its DisplayPort 1.4 version. Most of us take our DisplayPorts on our laptops for granted. Or, you’re content with the 1.3 standard that supports dual 4K monitors.

How many people actually have 4K monitors? Or a dual setup? Serious graphical horsepower…

Not one to sit around and wait for the future to arrive, VESA is hard at work on supporting the next technological advances. 8K and beyond.

Does it matter that an 8K TV costs over $100,000? Nah, it’s about setting standards to ensure devices of tomorrow work. The people developing 1.4 promise support for not only 8K, but High Dynamic Range content.

“This significant update to the DisplayPort standard is vital to continued growth of adoption for both DP and DSC, particularly in such fast-growing markets as digital television and automotive infotainment,” said VESA Board Chair Alan Kobayashi, Fellow and executive R&D management for Smart Connectivity Group at MegaChips Technology America. “New applications are demanding displays with better resolution, wider color gamut, and increased dynamic range. Consumers and others are also recognizing the value and ease-of-use associated with running multiple displays on one interface, which is another area we addressed in this new release with MST improvements. We believe the tools provided in this new DP standard release will enable a quantum leap forward in display quality, which leverage DSC compression along with transport of high-quality audio and video content.”

Pick your port when it comes to displays. VESA is supporting not only DisplayPort but USB-C connections. Enjoy 8K content (none available) in HDR deep color at 60Hz or 4K in HDR deep color at 120Hz.

It will take advantage of the VESA’s new Display Stream Compression tech to losslessly compress footage. Great video quality, but what about audio? The 1.4 version will carry 32 separate audio channels at 1536kHz.

What’s the deal with DisplayPort over HDMI? You can chain monitors, and it supports higher frame rates. It’s not just gaming that wants the higher fps. For VR to be an immersive experience, we need 90fps.

When do we get to take advantage of 1.4? I can only imagine the data cap hit I’ll be taking when Netflix streams 8K. I deserve a spot on Comcast’s Christmas list.

Prepare for a wait when it comes to 8K. HDR? That was the buzzword out of CES 2016. It will need the content, but the same argument was made over 4K the previous year. Today, 4K can be had for under a grand and content is rushing through production on all entertainment fronts.

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